Attendance: 30,523
- highest of the round and a mere 18,837 more than the Smoggies
attracted for the visit of Northampton (despite adult tickets there going
for a tenner).

Including Mike Ashley again sporting his Toon
shirt with "Smith 17" on the back.

Goals

Half time: Newcastle 0 Barnsley 0

57 mins What must be described by law as "a slide rule pass"
from Shola striding through the centre circle found Michael Owen on a
"trademark" run towards the Gallowgate End between two defenders.
His "typical finish" went under the keeper and just had enough
pace to find the "back of the net" 1-0

86 mins Within three minutes of taking the field, Obafemi Martins
doubled the lead when he took down a Solano cross before acrobatically
rifling the ball home. The Tykes' defenders appealed for what looked like a
valid handball claim. 2-0

Full time: Newcastle 2 Barnsley 0

We
Said

Samsaid:

"It was a comfortable
performance tonight, we were never in any trouble at any stage of the game
apart from maybe getting a little over-frustrated in the first half and
not being able to break down Barnsley as much as we would have
liked.

"It was just a case of waiting
and being patient and not switching off at the back, and finally the
Premier League showed up with the quality you have got to have to play at
this level when the goal went in.

"It was a great ball and a
fantastic run and a really good finish, and that is normally the only
difference between two sides.

"It was that move, that pass and
that finishing which just knocked the stuffing out of Barnsley, and then
of course we finished them off with Oba putting the ball in the bottom
corner.

"It was a good victory, we are
through to the next round and a clean sheet, which is very, very important
indeed. I cannot emphasise that enough, it means you are always in the
game to win it when you score."

"Steve (McClaren) was here
tonight and I don't think there is any question that England have fewer
options than I do, don't they? I have four options, they don't have many,
do they?

"This is only going to be good
for Michael, for Newcastle and for England.

"Fit and well tomorrow and
recovered Friday, we will have a look, have a chat and see where we go
from there for Saturday for the best and fittest XI to try to beat Wigan
before the international break.

"It is not a formality he starts
on Saturday, no. I will just have to weigh up the whole situation and use
a selection process based on what has been done in the past by everybody
and what the situation is going into the game against Wigan.

"Places at this stage cannot be
guaranteed for anybody.

"I will see what he is like
tomorrow. His level of intensity tonight will be at his highest, probably,
since the Germany match, so we will have to see how he feels tomorrow and
take it from there.

"We have got four very good
strikers - Mark Viduka, Shola Ameobi, Obafemi Martins and Michael Owen -
and we will need to use all four of them throughout the season."

Mike Ashley
added:
“It does not get much better than this and I really enjoyed the night.

“I could not wait for the ball to go in (for Owen's goal), and
when it did it only added to the enjoyment.”

To which Allardyce responded:

"It
was nice to see him here. He is an extremely busy man, of course.

“But
he enjoys his football that is obvious and plain for everyone to see.

“I am
glad he enjoyed his night and glad we helped him enjoy it by winning and
scoring two goals against Barnsley.”

They
Said

Simon Davey commented:

"I was pleased with the overall performance. It was a proud
dressing room.

"They have come to a massive club
and competed with them. But for a little lack of concentration and
world-class finishing, we lost the game.

"They can hold their heads up
high and be proud of what they have done.

"We have lost the game, so we are disappointed and we are out of the
cup.

"But the performance, I thought,
was fantastic. The players did the club proud.

"We had to make six changes from
Saturday and it proves we have got a good squad now that can compete at
Championship level."

Stats

Debut for Enrique and first start for Cacapa.

Michael Owen's strike came on the eve of the second
anniversary of his joining the club and was his first for us at
the Gallowgate End.

It also coincided with the anniversary of his hat trick for Liverpool
against us in 1998 - all three coming at that same end of the
ground.

His eighth competitive Newcastle goal came in his first club start since the last day of 2005 at Spurs.
One has to go back to December 17th 2005 at West Ham for his last competitive goal.

Owen's goal ended a 266 minute
scoreless spell
for him and was the first registered by anyone at home since Obafemi
Martins netted against AZ in March, ending a 560 minute
sequence.

And one has to go back to March 2003 to find Owen's last
appearance in this competition - when his goal sealed a 2-0 victory
over Manchester United in the final at Cardiff. Nicky Butt watched from the bench that day -
this time he was on the field alongside Owen.)

Full record against Barnsley:

P

W

D

L

F

A

SJP

14

9

2

3

28

10

Oak

14

1

6

7

15

21

League

28

10

8

10

43

31

SJP(FA)

2

2

0

0

7

3

Oak/CP/GP

3

1

1

1

3

4

SJP(LC)

3

2

1

0

4

1

Oak

3

2

1

0

3

1

Cup

11

7

3

1

17

9

Tot

39

17

11

11

60

40

Waffle

Our unbeaten start to the season continued with
an expected progression at the expense of a lower league side as we made a
comparatively rare recent appearance in the Second Round.

And if those who attended this non-televised affair weren't quite as exultant as
the owner afterwards, then they at least had the quiet satisfaction of seeing
Michael Owen's effort end
his - and our - goals famine.

Our well-documented issues at the other end of the pitch were also partly
addressed by the displays of new boys Enrique and Cacapa, although the welcome
clean sheet came against less than potent opponents, who lacked several
suspended and ineligible first-choice players.

The return of Emre in midfield gave rise to hopes that the creativity that had
been somewhat lacking here against Villa would return and Owen and Shola would
enjoy something approaching a service of passes.

However the Turk's contribution was non-existent, a couple of Barnsley chops in
the first half reducing his limited impact still further and hardly extending
hopes of a late Bundesliga bid for him.

Obvious though Emre's talent is, he's never shown any genuine work ethic in our
colours. There have been flashes of badge-kissing brilliance and cameos of
over-commitment, but no consistency.

A questionable injury record and an apparent recklessness with his fitness when
international caps are concerned isn't in his favour when the next phase of our
rebuilding programme gets underway.

Expect Emre's departure in January then, unless Allardyce can alter his attitude
and fitness to a level where he can be confident that the player won't let him
down when called upon - during the African Cup of Nations for instance.

It's doubtful whether his departure would really be mourned - especially if
Ashley could be persuaded to dip into his partying allowance to fund the arrival
of a genuine midfield trickster.

Butt's introduction early in the second half hardly improved our tempo, with him
and the willing Geremi unable to pierce holes in the massed red ranks and our
crossing and set pieces nothing to write home about.

A resolute Barnsley side brought one early set
piece stop from Given and struck a post with him a spectator in their rare
forays upfield.

Aside from that though, it was a question of probing and hoping - and when we
did manage to mount a counter-attack, Ameobi provided the required through ball,
Owen the finish. Just.

Further crowd-pleasing goals proved frustratingly elusive, but Martins appeared
to liven things up in the closing moments and cracked in a second to end the
evening on a high note.

It's easy to read too much into this display, but as a small staging post on the
road to post -Roeder respectability it's a significant one.

A handily-timed game then and almost the equivalent of a fourth home friendly -
only with decidedly more relevance and importance to us than Spaniards scoring
against Scotsmen.

Getting real pitch time for new faces and fitness seekers made this is a useful
exercise - and in this Europe-free season, to win any domestic cup tie is a big
plus.

Against that however is our entrance into this competition at an earlier stage
than has recently been the case - and the consequent elongated number of rounds
before any tangible excitement is felt.